NJ Quarry Cats comes in 3rd in national tournament

Home Team: NJ Quarry Cats
Place Played: East lansing, Michigan
Final Score:: 3rd place in national tournament
Date of Game: April 7 to April 10, 2010
Type of Game: National HOCKEY Tournament
Game Notes: : Hi, An amazing season is finally over for the Quarry Cats and this should be my last submission for the season. This time, I have tried to select some photos of the girls according to the towns where they live and write captions that go with the photos to show the local angle for the story. I thought you didn’t need more group photos (and we didn’t get an exciting “we just won” photo this time). Many of the girls have told me that a teacher or a coach has pointed out their picture to their classmates or teammates, and that has been the big reason for me to send out these press releases. Thank you for helping me get these girls the credit they deserve for their hard work, Sully Captions: Alesandra Vanore of Hoboken makes a move toward the goal against the Lysander (NY) Lightning. Photo courtesy of Les Elfenbein. East Lansing, Michigan, April 11, 2010 – On April 7, 2010, the New Jersey Quarry Cats won third place in USA Hockey’s Tier II National Championships in East Lansing, Michigan. This is the first year that the girl’s national championships included Tier II teams as well as Tier I teams. Twelve teams from all over the country participated in each tier. On April 7, The Quarry Cats beat the Colorado Selects 5-4. The QCats jumped out to a lead on a goal by Rachel Colvin, set up by an assist by Kayla Meneghin. The Coloradans answered with two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead. Marissa Chakmakian of the QCats tied the game up at 2-2 on an assist from Megan Donnelly. Next, Brittany Meneghin scored an unassisted goal, putting her shot top shelf to give the QCats a 3-2 lead. Kayla Meneghin slammed home a backhand pass from Erin Sullivan for a 4-2 lead. The QCats stretched their lead to 5-2 on a goal by Alexa Aramburu, assisted by Brittany Meneghin. The Selects were not done, and scored 2 goals, closing to within 5-4 with 1:57 remaining in the game. Zoe Zisis came up big in goal, stopping 25 shots, and squeaking out a victory. On April 8, the QCats defeated the San Jose (Cal.) Sharks, 3-0. Two Sharks penalties within 14 seconds of each other in the first period gave the Quarry Cats a 5 on 3 advantage. Kayla Meneghin scored on an assist from Zoe Elfenbein 26 seconds later. In the remaining 5 on 4 power play, Kayla returned the favor by setting up Zoe for the QCats second goal. Later in first period, Emily Chakmakian closed out the game’s scoring with an unassisted goal. Hannah Synnott made 30 saves to earn her shut out. On April 9, the QCats faced the Wisconsin Jr. Badgers, and lost in overtime, 2-1. Alexa Aramburu scored on Erin Sullivan’s assist midway through the first period. That score held up until the Badgers tied it with 3:37 left in the game. After almost 4 minutes of overtime, the Badgers won it. Despite 59 saves, Hannah Synnott could not pull off the victory. When the Quarry Cats advanced to the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. on April 10, they faced the Lysander (NY) Lightning. The game remained scoreless until 32 seconds remained, when Kayla Meneghin netted a breakaway to win the game. Zoe Zisis shut-out the Lightning with 36 saves. The semi-final was scheduled for 6 p.m. that night, and the Quarry Cats faced the Massachusetts Spitfires. The Spitfires had played Tier I hockey all season, and had been selected to go to the Tier II Championships only after they lost the Massachusetts Tier I Championship to the Assabet Valley Girls, 5-2. The Quarry Cats had played in a Tier II League and had been selected in for the Tier II Championships in the Atlantic District Tier II Championships. (The New Jersey Colonials won the Atlantic District Tier I Championship in a separate play-off, and lost to the Assabet Valley Girls from Massachusetts in the Tier I Quarterfinals 8-1 in Green Bay.) The Quarry Cats hung tough, and trailed 1-0 after the first period, and 2-0 after the second period. The Spitfires were too much however, scoring 5 goals in less than 3 minutes to run the score to 7-0. “All of our girls played great team hockey, and they did everything I could have asked them to do. At the beginning of the year, we thought we had a shot at going to Tier II Nationals, and we did it. To make it to Nationals is a huge accomplishment. To play as well as we did when we got there and win bronze is even better,” said Head Coach Taylor Berkowitz after the game. Submitted by Sean P. Sullivan, Verona, New Jersey.